1999, 1 hr 30 min., Rated G. Dir: Chris Buck, Kevin Lima. Voices of: Tony Goldwyn (Tarzan), Minnie Driver (Jane Porter), Glenn Close (Kala), Rosie O'Donnell (Terk), Lance Henriksen (Kerchak), Brian Blessed (Clayton), Wayne Knight (Tantor), Alex D. Linz (Young Tarzan), Nigel Hawthorne (Professor Archimedes Porter).

Aaah, one hundred kids running around yelling, dragging weary moms around the theater. I wonder why? Silly old bear, it must be a Disney movie! Yep, it's that time again to experience the magic of the wonderful world of Disney. This time we venture to the jungles of Africa in an area where apes roam free and are such good creatures that they accept a weird creature with no hair--"the hairless wonder" as he would be dubbed in childhood.

Yes, it's Tarzan, the man who lives among the apes and talks to the animals. You've heard the tale, might have seen one of the dozens of films about him, but if you're like me, you've never actually watched a Tarzan movie all the way through. And what better company to make you love him than Disney? I have always loved Disney films, and hope I still get as much emotion and laughs out of them when I'm 80.

It's inevitable to compare Tarzan to the new Disney classics from the last ten years, although I'm sure I'm not supposed to, but I can't help myself. I enjoyed The Lion King and Aladdin more, but this one is still way-above-average movie entertainment, at least on par with The Little Mermaid and more-so than Beauty and the Beast, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Pocohontas.

Surprising to me, the much-ballyhooed advances in animation are actually noticeable in Tarzan. I didn't expect to see anything different than the previous sixty years, but during the action sequences and the way Tarzan glides through the jungle with ease, there is a glossyness to the scene, a kind of 3-D experience that makes the action that much more snazzy. Disney didn't overuse the material, either, which is another big plus for the movie. The characters still have the same look since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I swear, though, that the way the young Tarzan is drawn--with eyes as big as headlights, that it is a device borrowed from Japanese anime. It helps to make the kid this loveable cutie patootie, so no complaints.

The animation for Tarzan is a step up as well, giving him the physique of a stud who walks like the apes on his knuckles, and his body is proportioned as if he did grow up in that environment. And thankfully, the animators didn't have the animals able to talk to humans, and Tarzan had to learn English.

Minnie Driver's voice for Jane makes her one of the most loveable heroines in Disney history. Her spunky playfulness and charm is intoxicating, and I again have to wonder, is it wrong to have a crush on an animated babe? I hope not.

Moving on from that perhaps disturbing image, Glenn Close is perfect as Tarzan's mom, and Rosie O'Donnell did not annoy me as much as predicted. She wasn't in the film long enough to have me hurl things at the screen, and the character was the usual Disney-esque "hero's pal," which to me is good, because not only the kids get a laugh of out the fun created by these sidekicks.

One qualm I must voice is the bad guy and the final confrontation. You know the one, where all is resolved, the bad guy gets his due, and we smile as we walk out of theater. I did have a smile and satisfaction, but the final confrontation didn't have the "feel" of a climax. The typical cliches are there (even using a red flare and a thunderstorm for the menacing background to the action), but I couldn't help but wonder, is there something else? And the bad guy is just thrown in there with a dirty grin, thin mustache that screams "I'm evil" and a burly meanness, so we have to hate him. Can't the good guys see he's a big meany? It's not like he hides his lust for taking the gorillas.

Even though Phil Collins hasn't done anything worthwhile for ten years, his music added to the movie experience for me; had me tapping my toes at the right spots and moved me at others. I've always liked Phil, so I was pleased to have him create some great work for Tarzan. I would have to say I enjoyed the music of The Lion King and Aladdin better, though. But it is refreshing to not have to sit through ten musical numbers, and only half of which are usually enjoyable.

Should you see Tarzan? What a dumb question! Yes! Go!